Archive for the ‘Corporate’ Category

Better reporting by companies will help avert systemic risks such as climate change and the banking crisis, according to Mervyn King.

“The annual financial statement as we have known it is no longer fit for purpose,” the former South African Supreme Court judge told Environmental Finance, at the launch of a discussion paper on Integrated Reporting – a global initiative to improve corporate reporting.

The Integrated Reporting initiative will ask companies to reveal “more comprehensive and meaningful information” about themselves. In particular, it aims to demonstrate how a company’s financial performance is achieved in the social, environmental and economic context within which it operates.

Transparency about the impact of a company’s operations will not only help investors make better judgments, but help businesses perform better, King said.

” “The range of issues – economic, environmental and social – which determine an organisations success has never been broader or more pressing,” he said. “It is for this reason that we need an approach to reporting that is fit-for-purpose in the 21st century. The world has changed – reporting must too.” ”

“It could be argued that companies providing more information about their environmental impact, such as carbon and water footprints, is making corporate reports too long and cluttered.

Businesses trying to tackle this problem have now put together a framework to enable them to provide investors and stakeholders with pithy but comprehensive corporate reports.

The International Integrated Reporting Committee (IIRC) will publish the new framework today, and it will be road tested from next month. An accompanying discussion paper will show how to encourage more firms to adopt integrated reporting.

The IIRC, which consists of representatives from the corporate, investor, accounting, securities, regulatory and standards-setting industries, will also consult with businesses on the proposed framework over the next few months.

IIRC chairman Sir Michael Peat, who is also principal private secretary to Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, explained that the new framework is designed to adapt reporting to the changing needs of investors in the 21st century. “

Corporate social responsability is significant and not just a feel good excecise. Read re LEGO corp steps to ensure compliance.

“In response to a campaign by Greenpeace asserting that packaging used for its iconic toy building blocks is contributing to deforestation in Indonesia, the LEGO Group on Thursday announced it is taking steps to reduce the environmental impact of its packaging materials and paper.

Denmark-based LEGO said its new policy includes three initiatives: reducing the amount of packaging materials used, using more recycled materials, and ensuring that non-recycled packaging materials are sourced sustainably (e.g. derived from forests and plantations certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

“It is our intent that we will only source material from suppliers that are not involved in deforestation,” said Helle Sofie Kaspersen, Vice President Corporate Governance and Sustainability at the LEGO Group, in a statement.

The move means LEGO has effectively barred Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) from supplying its fiber, according to Greenpeace.

“[Lego has] confirmed that this means APP will not be able to supply the company,” wrote Andy Tait, Senior Campaign Advisor for Greenpeace UK, on the Greenpeace blog.

Greenpeace and other environmental groups have targeted APP due to its ongoing role in forest clearing on Sumatra. APP suppliers control tens of thousands of hectares of natural forest and peatlands on the Indonesian island. The area is key habitat for critically endangered Sumatran tigers and elephants. It is also home to some of the last traditional forest tribes in Indonesia.

APP has previously committed to phasing out sourcing of wood-pulp from natural forests, yet it has consistently failed to meet its targets for doing so. APP’s subsidiaries are also under investigation for illegal logging in the province of Riau. Damages are estimated in the tens of billions of dollars by Indonesia’s audit agency.”